By: Aiyana Moore ~Staff Writer~

The Cincinnati Street Food Festival, held on Sept. 27 in Walnut Hills, worked to showcase the
neighborhood’s diverse population through food, music and games. With 15 food trucks ranging
from Red Sesame Korean BBQ to Andy’s Mediterranean Grille to Dojo Gelato, there were plenty of food choices. This festival appealed not only to Cincinnati’s foodie population, but also to the families in the neighborhood.

“One of the things that we like doing with the street food festival is having all of the art events for the kids,” a festival volunteer said. “All of the arts activities and things like that are free for participants.”

Booths were set up along the street, providing children with opportunities to spin a wheel for
prizes, play life-size Jenga or to receive balloon animals from a man on stilts. Also available was a booth that allowed people to voice their opinions on what they would like to see happen in Walnut Hills in the future.

“We have a large community full of diverse people and we don’t really have a thriving business
district, so we don’t have enough opportunity to walk down the street and see your neighbor
because you’re both on your way to the local pizza place,” Thea, another volunteer, said. “Having opportunities like this where we put together an event encourages that kind of activity to happen. It gets everyone out in the neighborhood to meet each other and to spend time with
each other.”

The Street Food Festival aims to bring people from all walks of life to Walnut Hills, even those who are not from the community.

“We’re celebrating the neighborhood and getting people that don’t always come to the neighborhood to come and do something in Walnut Hills,” Thea said.

While festival food is notoriously expensive, organizers of the Street Food Festival work to make sure that this is not the case in Walnut Hills. All of the food trucks at the festival are required to have at least one item that is $3 or less.
“We’re just trying to make it accessible to as many people as possible,” Thea said. “This is what we can do to make it easy to enter and just come and hang out. Food just seems to be able to bring together everyone.”